Busted Racquet

Rafael Nadal’s new on-court timepiece? $690,000

Remember back in 2010 when Rafael Nadal started sporting a watch on court and everyone wondered what it was? And then we found out the Richard Mille watch was worth $525,000 and we all gulped about as loud as you can possibly gulp when hearing that a watch someone is wearing to play sports in is worth more than what a lot of people will make in their lifetime.

Well, Nadal's wrist just got a little more expensive. Richard Mille came out with a new timepiece for the tennis player to sport on court, and it will ring in at a whopping $690,000. Seriously.

The initial watch was model RM027, which weighed just 20 grams, but the new model has dropped a gram of fat and somehow that makes it $100,000 more expensive.

"Part of the point of the Richard Mille Rafael Nadal watch is to prove that the piece can survive the torture. A new system in the 2013 watch makes it even less prone to damage. Richard Mille rates the watch to work in situations of up to 5000 Gs of force. A new system of suspension cables holds the watch in the case without being traditionally mounted with screws. This helps to further protect the delicate movement against shock and other tennis related trauma. This is probably the first watch of its kind to ever have such a mounting, and it is beautiful too. It goes without saying that the simple act of constructing this movement requires a great deal of finesse."

This is a pretty crazy price tag for a watch, but Nadal isn't the only athlete to get the support of Richard Mille. Bubba Watson, the 2012 Masters champion, has been sporting a $525,000 watch by the same brand since 2011 on and off the golf course.

Richard Mille plans to make just 50 of the new Nadal pieces and the number you see above is how much you'll have to pay to tell time like a Grand Slam champion.